Showing posts with label #STEM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #STEM. Show all posts

#IMWAYR January 20, 2025

Welcome! It's #IMWAYR time again, when bloggers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. I'm also connecting up with the Sunday Salon. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next!



I'm slowly working my way through Evicted. Slowly, because it's an emotionally hard read. I can only do it in bits and pieces. 

I'm also learning about making marionettes through watching videos and a pile of books I picked up from one of my libraries. My guild's exploration group decided on birds for this year's theme. We have to come up with a project based on this theme and we must do something we have never done before. I've made a three dimensional bird before so this year I'm thinking of creating a bird marionette out of fabric. Right now I'm just learning, but I have to get creating pretty soon since I only have til May to have it finished. 

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian or Indigenous Canadian Author and or Illustrator.
Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.

MG GRAPHIC NON FICTION

5 stars

A Shot in the Arm! by Don Brown April 20, 2021

This book looks at the history of vaccinations. It is narrated by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, a survivor or smallpox, who popularized inoculation in England. Deadly diseases such as cholera, smallpox, polio, rabies, influenza and other illnesses are addressed. It explores the history of our understanding of disease vectors. This includes the science behind how the immune system works and the discovery of bacteria and viruses. It also looks at the origins of the anti-vaccination movement. Unfortunately it ends just prior to the development of the Covid 19 vaccine. The irrational anti vaccination behaviour we saw first hand during it, was part and partial to many vaccination roll outs.
The cartoonish illustrations make the complex ideas under discussion easy to understand, as well as making it a fun read.

Rose and Lem live with their parents above their spice shop. Their father has taught both of them to read, write, and do arithmetic. They are thriving until their mother gets the plague. Their father sends them to the stay in shop while he tends to their mother. Then when he also gets ill, he gives them a formula for Rose to make that will protect them from the disease. He then sends them off into the world with instructions to do whatever it takes to survive: steal, trade, or beg. As soon as they leave, he burns the building down with him in it. The siblings find a safe place under a bridge, but soon run out of money. Lem supports them by stealing from abandoned plague houses, but then he disappears. When she is begging by a church, Rose meets up with a mother and Clove, her daughter. After the mother dies of the disease, Rose and Clove band together with other orphans to survive. When she finds Lem, she discovers that he told others about their oil and that all of them are in danger. During a conversation with a plague doctor they learn that if they can find a way out of London to Cambridge, they will be safe.
This is a riveting historical novel. The characters are well developed and sympathetic. It's filled with enough action to keep readers turning the pages. I especially appreciated how much we learn about this time in history.


Oliver is a kind of nerdy Greg Heffley. The beginning of middle school is full of all kinds of strangeness, but the one thing that still makes sense to Oliver is science. Oliver is fascinated by astronomy and plans to become an astrophysicist some day. After admitting to his teacher that he wants to write a book about it, she encourages him to create it and share it with his class. In his book "Oliver explains everything he learns—like how the sun burps, how ghost particles fly through you, the uncanny similarities between Mercury and cafeteria meatballs, and most important, how the Big Bang is basically just like a fart in the school hallway."
Jorge Cham is renowned for creating kid friendly science programs and you can add this series to his list of achievements. His blend of humour, fiction, and science are a winning combination. 
I can't wait to introduce my grandson to this series. Everett is a bit of a science and math nerd so I'm sure he will enjoy it. I suspect my granddaughter will too. 

CURRENTLY 

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond & Dion Graham (narrator) March 1, 2016

A Hat Full of Sky (Discworld, #32; Tiffany Aching, #2) by Terry Pratchett April 29, 2004

Ab(solutely) Normal: Short Stories That Smash Mental Health Stereotypes by Nora Shalaway Carpenter (Editor) et al

UP NEXT (MAYBE)

Hidden Truths by Elly Swartz, Jeff Ebner (Narrator) & Emily Eiden (Narrator) October 31, 2023

2025 READING GOALS

#MustRead2025 6/25

NonFiction 5/30 one on the go

Poetry 0/12 one on the go

Canadian Authors 8/50

Indigenous Authors 0/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 16/200
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IMWAYR September 4, 2023

Welcome! It's #IMWAYR time again, when bloggers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next.


I am happy to say that our neck of the woods is almost completely smoke free. A couple of fires are burning to the north but they are mostly contained.

Thank goodness for audio books! It's the time of year for canning and preserving. At the same time as I am slogging away, I am living in alternative realities. As a bonus, the shelves in our cool room are filling up with jars full of glorious colours.

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian or Indigenous Canadian Author and or Illustrator.
 
Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.

MOST RECENT BLOG POST

FREE VERSE FRIDAY #8 SEPTEMBER - AUTUMN


"The queen of chess, Judit Polgár, dazzled the world as a prodigy, winning tournaments, gold medals, and defeating eleven world champions, including Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen. At her peak, Judit was rated the eighth best chess player in the world."
I confess that I wanted to read this book because I adored the TV series, Queen's Gambit. I just had to learn more about a real woman chess grand master. 
Judit Polgár is at least as fascinating (even if the wardrobe isn't as exciting) as her fictional counterpart a couple of decades earlier. 
Judit Polgár was a chess prodigy who at five years old, played against and defeated players older and more experienced than she was. At age nine she was winning international tournaments. 
If you don't have this book in your library, you should purchase it now! I really wish it had been around when my school library hosted the school chess club. 

MIDDLE GRADE GRAPHIC NOVELS


Two children from completely different parts of the planet are dealing with the consequences of climate change. While reading this I couldn't help but make a connection to Two Degrees by Alan Gatz. In that book he focuses on children in North America. Eoin Colfer shows us the reality for Sami, a boy who lives somewhere in the Indian Ocean and depends on fishing to make a living. His other protagonist, Yuki, lives in northern Canada where the polar ice is melting. She is doing her best to protect the polar bears around her community.
What I really liked about this book is that, just like in Alan Gatz's book, it shows the consequences of the climate crisis at a personal level. In this case, the images make it profoundly real.

4 stars

From the Roots Up by Tasha Spillett, Natasha Donovan (Illustrator) & Donovan Yaciuk (Illustrator) 🍁

I could have sworn I wrote a review for this book just after reading it, but if I did, I have no idea where it went.
This continues the story of Dez, and Miikwan, two indigenous friends. Dez' grandmother has died and she is living in a group home. Her social worker is a bit of a nightmare, but the woman at the home seems to be a supportive person who understands that Dez is grieving.
At school the two friends attend an after school group that focuses on indigenous teachings. Linda, the elder who runs the group, doesn't question the gendered protocols she has grown up with. With the help of Miikwan's boyfriend's mother, she starts to change her thinking and comes to accept Dez being two spirit.
I like that both girls are in positive relationships with others, but their friendship is what really matters.
I adore Natasha Donovan's artwork!

ADULT/YA GRAPHIC NOVELS


This graphic novel is spectacular. I went into it expecting something entirely different: something fictional or myth. I was gobsmacked by what I experienced. This book is a time travel. It's a portal that opens a passage into the history of the Haida Gwai, an island of the coast of British Columbia. 
It begins with Indigenous life before contact with Europeans. In spectacular illustrations it reveals the horrors wrought by white colonialists, including the deliberate spreading of small pox. 
At the same time it's the story of Johan Adrian Jacobsen (JAJ), who came to the Haida village of Masset to collect specimens for a German museum.
The artwork is spectacular, a blend of traditional and modern art. It's not organized like an ordinary graphic novel. There is a brilliantly chaotic quality to how it all comes together. I learned at the end of the book that if all the panels are put together it becomes a huge mural that is on display at the Berlin Humboldt Forum. 
The following video, taken during a showing of the mural in East Vancouver, gives you a sense of the piece.


ADULT/YA FICTION


This book was a time warp for me. I remember when the local arts community in Vancouver was devastated by the loss of one creative member after another. My partner, a film maker, was much more aware of the tragedy than I was. As a teacher I was only aware of a couple of people who lost their lives to Aids. The book reminded me of listening to The Dr. Peter Diaries, on CBC radio and singing with the the choir at the Dr Peter's Center.
I was deeply invested in these characters: especially the young man, Yale. I wanted so much for him to be a survivor of the carnage around him. One by one his friends get the disease and die. 
The latter part of the book focuses on Fiona and her estranged daughter. The book begins with the funeral of her brother. It ends with her acknowledging how deeply the epidemic scarred her. 


Lucky St. James, a Métis, lives in Toronto with her Grandmother. Just as the two of them are about to be evicted from their apartment, Lucky gets invited to go for a job interview in Salem. There she is invited to join a coven of witches. She barely gets to know the other members when she is sent off in search for the final member of the group. 
It takes a while before Lucky realizes that Jay Christos, a truly evil witch hunter is chasing after her. 
On the surface this is a simple paranormal thriller. At the same time it's a deeply feminist book about friendship - about the power of women when we come together to support each other. Lucky's grandmother, Stella, is one of my favourite characters in the book. She is one spunky old woman! 
The book highlights the evils of the patriarchal system. Fortunately, Lucky St. James' mother equipped her with all kinds of indigenous magic for how to deal with it and the men who try to run it. 
I am looking forward to the sequel that I'm sure is coming!

5 stars

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus & Miranda Raison (Narrator) March 31 2022

It took me a bit to get into this book, but when it finally grabbed me, I was totally hooked. Part of the reason for this is that someone had compared it to When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill, and thought this was better. I do get the connection between the two novels, but wouldn't say either was better. Both are set primarily in the 1960's and both feature women in STEM. The anger in Lessons in Chemistry is more of a slow burn, while in When Women Were Dragons, it's a screaming rage. To be honest, this was much easier to read because of that.
It's the story of Elizabeth Zott, a scientist, who never manages to finish her degree because of being sexually assaulted. It's about not being able to pursue your career because you are a woman. It's a bit of a love story between two brilliant and odd individuals. When she is no longer able to work at her chosen profession, Elizabeth ends up working as a TV star on a cooking show where she teaches her watchers about chemistry.
I like the relationships between the women here. I like that even the one that starts out antagonistic becomes supportive. I like that there are some sympathetic men, even if they are not really effectual. I like the weird humour in this. I adored Six-Thirty, who might be one of the best dogs in fiction. 

CURRENTLY

We are Still Here by Nahid Shahalimi (Editor)

The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Witch King by Martha Wells

UP NEXT 

I have no idea.

READING GOALS 

#MustReadFiction 16/24 

#MustReadNonFiction 12/20

Canadian Authors 32/75 

Indigenous Authors 15/20 

Big Books Summer 2023 - 15 - one in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 134/200 
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